Chapter One: The Toad
by Skyout
Summary: A toad with laryngitis is Sakura's first sign that tonight's concert might hold more surprises than she bargained for. Sakura must figure out a way to defeat the Clow Card that is causing all the problems without being distracted by a certain someone.
1. Default Chapter

Chapter 1: The Toad

"This is actually pretty good Touya. Thanks for making dinner so I could get ready for the concert tonight."

Touya pushed his chair back from the table and smiled at his little sister, "Just remember that you owe me one. Besides, it takes a lot less work to make me beautiful, so it won't take me as long to get ready for the concert."

Sakura slowly looked up from her plate, "W-w-what? You don't even like Kurage. Why would you want to go to their concert?"

"Don't you worry about it little sis. I'm not going there to spy on you. You won't even know I'm there."

Sakura pushed her chair back and began piling their dishes.

Touya watched as she carried the stack over to the sink. "Sakura, I know we agreed that I would try not to baby you so much, but… um… are you sure that wearing that outfit to the concert is such a good idea?"

Sakura stopped mid-stride and looked down at her clothes. "Hooeeeeee?" The shorts and top were shorter than anything she would ever wear outside of the house, not to mention that they were printed with little yellow duckies. Her face reddened as she turned to face her brother. "These are my PAJAMAS TOUYA! Tomoyo is coming over any minute with an outfit she made especially for this concert."

"Oh," this time it was Touya's face that took on a rosy glow. "Sorry," he mumbled. "I was just looking out for you kiddo."

"Whatever," Sakura said over her shoulder as she headed toward her room.

Sakura plopped down on her futon and stretched. She had a good feeling about tonight. Maybe something special would happen. She heard a faint knock from the other room and then the sound of Touya's laughter. Oh no! What sort of get-up did Tomoyo bring for her this time?

Tomoyo squealed as she rounded the corner, "Ooooh, look at how adorable you are all stretched out there like a cat! I brought you the very best outfit ever. I wanted you to look extra special tonight."

Sakura inwardly cringed and peeked at the package under Tomoyo's arm. It didn't look shiny or furry, so that was a good sign. She breathed a barely audible sigh of relief when Tomoyo pulled out an embroidered peasant blouse and some flared velvet bottoms. The colorful flowers on the collar and sleeves looked almost real, and tiny birds and butterflies seemed like they were flying in and out of the vines. 

"It's beautiful!" Sakura exclaimed as she rolled off the futon.

"I'm so glad that you like it" said Tomoyo. Now hurry and get dressed so that we can get a good spot."

As the girls headed out the door toward Penguin Park a small toad hopped across their path. He turned to look at them and opened his mouth as if to croak, but nothing came out. The toad gave them a startled look and then bounced off into the bushes.

 That's weird, Sakura thought as Tomoyo grabbed her arm and pulled her down the path. Oh well, maybe toads get laryngitis too.


	2. The Bird

 Chapter 2: The Bird

As the girls headed up the last stretch of pathway to the concert area, Sakura's thoughts went back to the little toad. He really looked surprised that he couldn't demonstrate his fine croak for us. And he hopped away so quickly, almost as if he were embarrassed. Oh well, thought Sakura, maybe he'll be better by the time the concert is over and will let us hear his croak on the way home.

As they stepped out from under the canopy of trees into the concert area both Sakura and Tomoyo stopped in their tracks.

"Hooooooooeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee," they breathed in unison. Penguin Park had been transformed into a magical fairyland. The trees were covered with twinkling white lights and it looked as if some stars had fallen from the sky and gotten tangled in the branches. All of the chairs and lightpoles and wooden slats from the stage were covered with living vines dotted with flowers of every imaginable color. Sakura's eyes widened further still when she realized that real birds and butterflies were dancing from vine to vine and flitting amongst the branches of the star-filled trees.

"Oh Tomoyo!" Sakura exclaimed. "It's just exactly like the vines on my shirt! How did you know?"

Tomoyo smiled impishly at her friend, "Oh, I have my ways, don't you know?"

As they neared the stage Tomoyo's grip on her friend's arm tightened. "Don't look yet, but over there near the left side of the stage, isn't that a certain someone from our school that I see?"

Sakura slowly turned her head and pretended to admire the decorations. Her lips clamped into a thin line and she quickly swung her head the other way when she caught a glimpse of Li Syaoran sitting where Tomoyo was pointing. "Well, we can just sit at the other side of the stage," said Sakura as she started pulling her friend toward the opposite pathway.

Tomoyo grinned broadly, "Oh no we can't 'cause look who's sitting right beside him."

Sakura inched her head around again to see Rika, Naoko, Chiharu, and Takashi all settled in the seats beside Li Syaoran. Even worse, Touya and Y-y-yuki were just behind him. Well, Sakura thought, I can just sit in the seat that is farthest away, right next to Takashi.

As the girls headed down toward the group Sakura whispered, "Tomoyo, is it just me, or do you notice anything strange about all of this?"

Tomoyo looked around briefly and then nodded her head until her dark curls bounced. "Yes Sakura. You're right. There's definitely something wrong, but I can't figure out what it is."

Just then one of the little songbirds flew up above the girls' heads and then settled neatly down onto the sleeve of Sakura's new shirt.

"Look," Tomoyo whispered, "he likes the flowers on your outfit too."

The songbird ruffled his feathers and tilted his head sideways to get a better look at the girls. They must have looked okay because his eyes suddenly brightened, and he opened up his beak as if to sing… but nothing came out. The tiny bird hopped from foot to foot and opened his beak wider and wider… but still nothing came out. The poor little thing took one last look at Sakura before flying away into one of the nearby trees. Sakura could have sworn that he wore the same startled look as the toad she had seen earlier that night. Sakura suddenly realized what had been bothering her. With all of these songbirds around there should have been a lot of different melodies in the air, but there were none. In fact, the park seemed much quieter than usual in spite of the crowd.

Just then a tiny head popped out of her backpack and said, "I sure hope your band sings better than that bird."


	3. The Singer

Chapter 3: The Singer

"Kero!" exclaimed Sakura. "What are you doing here? I thought you were staying home to play that new game my dad got me."

"Hhrrmph," Kero shrugged. "I just thought it might be nice to get out and hear some good music for a change. I'm always stuck at home listening to that junk your brother likes." Kero's glance suddenly shifted, "Hey wait! Is that an okonomiyaki stand I see?"

"Kero, we should have known you'd show up for the food," Tomoyo said smiling down at Sakura's backpack.

Just then the girls reached their group of friends. "Having a nice conversation with Sakura's books Tomoyo?" asked a giggling Chiharu.

Tomoyo blushed as Sakura hastily changed the subject, "Er… hey look, I think the band is about to start."

As the girls settled into their seats Sakura felt certain that someone was staring at her from a few seats away. Again a muffled voice came from her backpack, "Yo. What's that brat staring at? Hasn't he ever seen a Card Captor before?"

Sakura hastily leaned down and pretended to search for something in her bag. "Kero! Someone's going to hear you. Why don't…" Just then the band started up with of one of Sakura's favorite songs and drowned out Kero's indignant reply.

"Oooooooooooooh!" squealed Tomoyo, "I loooooooooove this song!!!" 

The girls stood to get a better look at the stage. The band was surrounded by birds and butterflies, and the lead singer even had flowering vines wrapped around her guitar strap. The opening bars of the song ended, and Sakura craned her neck to catch a glimpse of the totally kawaii lead singer as she started to sing.

Sakura could hardly believe it. The green-haired girl was standing in front of the crowd, swaying to the music, and moving her lips—but no sound was coming out of her mouth. Other people in the crowd started standing up to see what was happening. The technicians were running around the stage wildly, checking all the microphones and amplifiers to see what was wrong. The singer stopped playing, and let her guitar hang loosely at her side.

Tomoyo grabbed Sakura's arm, "Do you see?!!!? It's just like the toad and the bird!!! What's going on Sakura?"

"I…I…I'm not sure, but I'll bet it's got something to do with a Clow Card," said Sakura as she sank back into her seat to think. 


	4. The Cards

Chapter 4: The Cards

Kero's muffled voice came from beneath the seat, "Pssstttt! Sakura, I'm sensing something here. I think this might have something to do with a Clow Card."

Takashi glanced over at Sakura, "Did you hear something coming from under your seat Kinomoto? Is someone under there?"

Sakura gulped, "Um… no. I think it was just an echo. B-b-but I'd better go to the bathroom now." She snatched up the strap of her bag and called out as she exited the aisle, "Tomoyo, could you please come to the bathroom with me?"

"Geeeesh," Takashi said, "You girls are all alike. Can't even go to the bathroom by yourselves. Ouch!!!" he exclaimed rubbing his arm and looking over at Chiharu. "What was that for?"

"Oh, you know what it was for," Chiharu answered, giving him a stern look from under her lowered brows.

Sakura and Tomoyo made their way through the crowd which by this time was standing and milling about, trying to get a better look at the stage to figure out what was going on. Some of the concertgoers were complaining loudly about the lousy sound system in this park, and others were vowing that they would never buy tickets to another Kurage concert again. One particularly vocal man was standing on top of his chair gesturing wildly as he shouted insults toward the stage. 

"HOOEE!!!" Sakura cried out as the man suddenly vanished into thin air. The girls looked around in disbelief as the noisiest of the concertgoers began disappearing one by one.

"Oh boy Sakura! You'd better do something quick!" exclaimed Tomoyo.

"I know!" said Sakura, "but what?"

As they reached the cover of the trees Kero popped completely out of the backpack. "It must be the Silent Card, Sakura. It hates noise and will sometimes even transport obnoxiously loud people away."

"G-g-gulp. Away to where?" Tomoyo asked in a very tiny voice.

"How should I know?" snapped Kero. "Not for nothing, but here comes one brat I'd like to see transported away. Let's see if we can get him to make some noise."

The girls turned to see Syaoran making his way toward them holding his derivator out in front of him. "Kinomoto!" he shouted. "You planning to do something about this, or are you waiting until the whole town disappears?"

Sakura winced at the tone of his voice. Why was he always so mean to her? It seemed like Syaoran hated her more and more every day. And to make matters worse, he seemed to be having the opposite effect on her. She liked him more with each passing day and was starting to get all floaty inside whenever she saw him.

"You don't have to be so mean to her Li Syaoran!" Tomoyo admonished. "She's getting ready to take care of things right now!"

Sakura turned to Kero. "Okay, I'm going to try something that I think will work."

"KAACHIINNG!" There was a bright glint of colored light as Sakura raised her arms toward the sky. "Staff made by Clow! Bestow the power of the card unto my key! Grant me your powers! THUNDER!!!"

A light breeze kicked up and a giant rumble of thunder rolled through the clouds above Penguin Park. Something was wrong though. The thunder started off strong but then seemed to fade in and out as time went by.

The complaining crowd peered up into the sky, wondering if the night was going to get even worse.

"That's right, Sakura," said Kero. "Use Thunder to weaken Silent's resolve. After all, Thunder is a very powerful force of nature, while Silent is more of a whim card."

The thunder seemed to grow in strength as Sakura raised the staff again. "Release SONG!!!" Sakura turned to Tomoyo, "Okay, I'm going to need your help with this one. Song will only imitate the most beautiful voices, so I need you to sing a little bit of that number you did at the talent show last year."

Tomoyo blushed, "W-wh-what? Sing here?"

"Oh please Tomoyo," begged Sakura. "You know that you have the most beautiful voice for miles around. And besides, we really need your help."

Hearing the compliment her friend turned an even deeper shade of pink. "Well, okay. If you really think it will help."

"I do," said Sakura as she stretched her arms further toward the sky and bit her lip in concentration. As Tomoyo parted her lips to sing, the vines on Sakura's shirt seemed to ripple back and forth. The Song Card picked up Tomoyo's perfect pitch and scattered the notes into the night sky. A glow surrounded the Cardcaptor, and her hair stood out on end and gave off little auburn sparks. Irridescent swirls of light filtered through the shirt Tomoyo had given her and made it seem as if the fabric birds and butterflies were the ones filling the air with song.

Sakura would have been surprised to see the look on Li Syaoran's face at that moment. He was staring at her with a warm glow in his honey colored eyes, and his face was filled, not with anger, but with admiration instead.


	5. The Kiss

Chapter 5: The Kiss

The glowing light around Sakura grew brighter as the ephemeral birds and butterflies circled around her and then spiraled up into the treetops.

"Atta girl!" shouted Kero. "Can't you hear the thunder? Silent is weakening."

Sakura raised the staff once more. "Shiiiing! Release the seal! Return to the form you were destined to be Clow Card!"

In the same instant that all the swirling colors and birds and butterflies settled back down into the vines on Sakura's blouse, a small white card fluttered to the ground at her feet. The obnoxiously loud heckler popped onto his chair again with a dazed look on his face, and the lead singer's voice once again filled the air. The crowd started roaring its approval, and the songbirds up above the group's heads starting chirping wildly.

"Ooooh! You did it! And I got it all on the camcorder," squealed Tomoyo as she threw her arms around her friend.

"Way to go Sakura! I knew you could do it," Kero buzzed above their heads. "Now let's go get some modern-yaki!"

"Kero," she cried, "I can't believe you're still thinking about food." Sakura slowly turned her head around to see that Syaoran had already disappeared. "Well, we may as well head back to see the band. I'll get you some okonomiyaki in a minute Kero. First I want to go see if the gang's all still there."

"Just so long as you don't forget," huffed Kero as he settled into the bag.

As the trio headed down toward the stage, Kurage started playing Sakura's favorite love song. The swaying crowd was so thick that the girls were pushed apart until Tomoyo disappeared around a corner. Still being pushed, Sakura found herself face to face with Li Syaoran as he leaned up against a tree. The lead singer's voice ran through Sakura's head, "You think you know me well, but you don't know me…" Just then the crowd surged and Sakura was pressed up against Syaoran. Her face turned bright pink as she looked up into those honey-filled eyes. He stared intently at her with the trace of a smile playing across his lips.

He's laughing at me! I am so embarrassed. I'm going to just die, die, die! She gritted her teeth and said, "I am sorry Li Syaoran, but they're all pushing me." The last few notes of the song played out, and Sakura closed her eyes to hide the tears that were gathering under her lashes. She tried not to think about how Syaoran's chest felt underneath his shirt or about how hard her heart was pounding.

Then, almost before she knew what was happening, Sakura felt a warm, light touch on her lips, like the caress of a butterfly's wings. Her eyes popped open in surprise just as the crowd shifted again, and she was pushed away from him so quickly that she couldn't even catch a glimpse of his face before he was out of sight.


	6. Chapter 6: The Kero and the End

Chapter 5: The Kero and the End

As the crowd pushed her along, Sakura felt as if she might shatter and burst into a million pieces. All these thoughts were running through her head at once. Had Syaoran really kissed her? Did that mean he didn't hate her? Did that mean he liked her? Loved her even?

A faint voice coming from the backpack broke into Sakura's tangled mass of thoughts, "Uh, Sakura. Please tell me what just happened back there. I mean, one minute I was getting squashed by all these people, and the next minute I hear kissing noises?"

"Huh?" said Sakura, as she snapped back to reality. "Maybe you're imagining things Kero. Are you sure it wasn't the sound of lips smacking together as they eat modern-yaki, eh?"

"Wha…? Hrrmph," Kero shrugged. "I know what I heard. And you know what? Maybe I'll just go and get some yaki myself since YOU obviously aren't going anytime soon." And with that Kero buzzed out of the backpack and flew off with a couple of the concert birds.

"But…" Sakura started to say, but it was too late. He was already gone. Shaking her head, she finally reached the row where her friends were sitting. 

"Whew! There you are," said Tomoyo. "I was starting to worry that the crowd had carried you away." Tomoyo looked over her shoulder, "Uh-oh, here comes trouble. Boy does he look mad."

Touya was pushing past all the people in the aisle, making his way toward his little sister. By the time he reached her, he was positively glowering. "Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you! It was crazy out there, and then you just disappeared."

Sakura toed the ground. "Er… I just went to the bathroom, Touya. I'm really, really, really sorry."

Touya peered suspiciously at his little sister. "You're being awfully contrite, monster. Are you sure you're okay? You look a little flushed."

"Um… sure, Touya. I'm okay. I just need to sit down. That's all."

As she sank into her seat, Touya called out over his shoulder, "You know, it's funny… just before you got here a bird zoomed past my head that looked just like that silly stuffed animal you're always carrying around."

At that, Sakura sank even further down into her seat and settled in to watch the rest of the concert and to think about her very first kiss.


End file.
